Rainbows and Sparkles: San Diego Pride in the First Person
Anyone that is a friend on my Facebook page knows that when I used to work for San Diego Pride I would put on my status Jeffrey is making rainbows and sparkles for the LGBT community today. When I put this message up I meant it wholeheartedly. I enjoyed working for Pride. I loved the environment, my fellow staff members and having the opportunity to be immersed in the community every day. Don’t get me wrong, working at Pride certainly had its up and downs. But, any job does. However, January 5 was the “down” that would forever change my relationship with Pride – rainbows, sparkles and all.
I’d been with San Diego Pride for a long time, over 12 years in fact. Starting as a volunteer for the parade doing one five-hour shift to becoming a safety coordinator to, finally, a full-time staff member in charge of the parade. As the Production Assistant, my job was three fold: manage all components of the parade including meeting with San Diego Special Events, SDPD and the San Diego Fire Department; helping raise funds for the organization; and overall administrative duties including office management, sending out correspondence and contractor coordination for both the parade and festival. I stayed at Pride through many changes and hardships: four different executive directors, numerous incoming and outgoing board members, an office move and the Pride controversy of 2005. Through it all, I remained a champion of not only the organization, but of its mission and purpose.
After becoming staff and learning more about non-profit work, I soon realized that the San Diego Pride board was unlike any other non-profit board I’d known. Most boards let staff take care of operations while they (the board) focus on creating long-term strategies and goals, approving budgets and, ultimately, bringing in money. When I was on staff, the Pride board only ever did one of these things: approve the budget. Throughout my tenure, I never felt like I was working toward a long-term goal. Yes, we did have yearly goals, but I never heard the board say anything like “we are going to buy a senior housing project in five years.” Ron deHarte, the executive director, did give us our yearly goals but never shared with us the longer-term vision of the organization. Why? I feel it’s because Ron was never given a clear vision from the board. The Pride board brought very little money into the organization. In general, staff members gave more money to Pride than the entire board of directors combined. To try and ascertain any development leads from them was like pulling teeth.
This brings me to my final day at “Rainbowland” (as we called the Pride office.) It started like every other day. At around 10AM, the three former board members (Philip Princetta, Mike Karim and Carl Worrell) walked directly into Ron’s office and fired him on the spot. I had the unfortunate task of helping him find a box, gather his personal belongings and carry them out to his car. I had a lot of respect for Ron. Through his tenure, he was able to help the organization grow out of the “Pride event box” that most other pride organizations fall into. Although I did not personally agree with some of his decisions, I do believe that he ultimately had the best interests of the organization at heart. One decision I disagreed with was the creation of the Walk for Equality (a new Pride event that has since been canceled by the newly-instituted board.) The Walk for Equality was supposed to be an AIDS Walk-like fundraiser for equal rights organizations. I had difficulty getting behind the project because I felt that our Equality Torch Relay, a very successful event last year, was virtually the same event. Therefore, all we needed to do was create a funding mechanism for the relay. Adding an entirely new event was, to me, unnecessary.
About 11AM, the three former board members asked to meet with the staff. We all went to the conference room where they told us what happened and why Ron was let go. Mind you, the day prior, Ron told the staff about what steps he was taking to help the organization deal with the gift granted to board chair Princetta for his “service to the organization.” Ron had many communications with board members, Pride’s attorneys and accountants about the transaction and how it should be recorded. During his explanation, Ron mentioned he might be fired or suspended as a result of his actions but felt he was doing what was right and just for the betterment of the organization.
So, while the board members continued their meeting with us, they said Ron was let go due to “differences of opinion.” Now, I found that very hard to believe, given I already knew about the gift to Princetta and that Ron had blown the whistle on the issue – he had just told us about it the day before. Immediately, emotions started running through my head: anger at the fact that the board would approve the gift, frustration at the board for firing Ron basically because he “blew the whistle,” frightened about how I would personally be impacted and sad about how the community would react. It’s a day I will never forget.
Jeff Redondo and Ken St. Pierre with Top Chef finalist Jamie Lauren
After the meeting, the staff went to lunch. There was discussion about what we should do. All of us immediately called loved ones to help us decide on a plan of action, as any decision we made would directly impact their lives as well. In my mind, there wasn’t really a choice – I had to resign. The board, no doubt, made several bad decisions. Some staff members chose to stay and continue working for Pride. I completely respected their decision. Although I loved my job and the organization, I knew I was making the right choice, not only as a development professional but as a concerned community member. All I kept thinking was where am I going to live, how am I going to afford food and how will I take care of myself? But even still, I refused to sit idly by and let this injustice just happen. Luckily, I found support in one other staff member, Ken St. Pierre, Pride’s Director of Development. He made the same decision I did to resign.
When we returned from lunch, I cleaned up my desk and typed up my resignation letter to give to Princetta. Ken and I then asked to speak with him. He was on the phone. Given what had just happened, we felt it was important enough and expressed urgency in speaking with him – we had hoped he’d extend us the courtesy of ending his phone call. He did not. So, we handed him our letters and left. It was at this point that I knew he was not the right person to take a leadership role in running San Diego Pride, certainly not after the mess that he, himself, had caused. When I walked out the front doors of the Pride office that day, I knew I had done the right thing.
Later that afternoon I posted a status update about my resignation on my Facebook page. I received many comments to the update, like I salute you for having the courage to do the right thing even at a cost and I’m proud of you for doing the right thing. I am sorry that it came to this. Keep your head up! And the comments kept coming and kept coming: Jeffery, I would like to thank you for your sacrifice for our community! I love that you saw injustice in our community and instead of looking the other way, like so many do, you took a stand and sacrificed your livelihood for our community. I am proud to know you and even more proud to call you ‘Friend.’ It was comments like these that helped me be further at peace with my decision.
However, on January 6, all those positive comments went right down the drain when Nicole Murray-Ramirez’s post about the Pride staff bonuses went live on this very site. Being the lowest paid, full-time staff member handling a great deal of management-level responsibilities, it was very difficult for me not to accept a bonus when most, if not all, other organizations and companies give employees some kind of end of year bonus in recognition for their hard work and dedication. In 2008 I received a bonus without question or incident. But this year it became an ordeal. I firmly believe that Princetta started all the discussions about staff bonuses and Ron’s salary in an attempt to derail the already mounting controversy over his $5,000 “gift” from the other board members – a gift granted directly against the bylaws of San Diego Pride. I fully understand that many non-profits are hurting and this bonus money would have helped other organizations further fund necessary programs and services. But, while I did accept the bonus, I was not the person who made the decision to offer bonuses as part of our annual compensation nor was I the one responsible for approving Pride’s budget. Still, through the controversy and after all the articles and commentaries about it, I held my head high, knowing I made the right decision.
On January 11, the community held a Town Hall meeting. I went into the Town Hall thinking that after the community’s outcry for the board to resign, Princetta, Karim and Worrell would finally concede and I might be able to return to Pride and pick-up were I left off. This couldn’t have been further from reality. Not only did the board not show up, but they also reaffirmed their stance that they would not resign. This demonstrated, to me, that they didn’t care at all about the community and were only concerned about their own self-interests. I needed to be at the Town Hall to get some resolution regarding my job and my life. When I arrived, I received some encouragement from certain individuals. But, that didn’t last long. When the community began discussing whether Ken or I should get our jobs back, I literally had to leave the room. My emotions got the best of me so I went outside to get some air. My livelihood was seemingly now in the hands of people who did not know anything about my job, my situation or my life. That night, I found out who my true friends were.
After the Town Hall, I began to realize that, more than likely, I would not be getting my job back. So, I felt I had to stand up for what I believed was right. Several members of the community were organizing protests of the CAPI conference the following weekend. I was torn on whether or not I should participate because I knew that Pride organizations from all around the southwest were going to be there and see how San Diego Pride puts on a successful conference. But, this was no longer about me getting my job back; it was a matter of principle. Sure, I wanted to show CAPI members that San Diego Pride could put on a great conference. After all, I helped organize it. But, I was not about to support San Diego Pride’s board leadership. Therefore, I decided to attend the protests.
I arrived at the Sheraton Mission Valley on Friday night and was immediately excited to see about 40 people who braved the rain to support the protest. Collectively, our message was clear: we were not there to protest the conference or CAPI, we were there to show our disappointment with the San Diego Pride board and their decisions. Toward the end of the protest, our group walked directly through the hotel lobby. As I walked in the protest line, I looked into the eyes of those remaining Pride staff members and could see their disapproval. I didn’t know what to think. While I respected their decision to stay, I had hoped they would have respected mine to leave. When I got home, I logged in to Facebook and saw that a good friend of mine had posted a status update about the protest, something like The king gave the orders and the pawns followed. I knew exactly whom my friend was referring to. I attended the protest based on what I felt was right, not because anyone told me to go. I made a decision that affected my livelihood so I intended to follow it through to the end.
Through this experience, I’ve developed a great support system or friends, fellow community members and other business professionals that have helped me adjust to a Rainbowland-free way of life. If I need a shoulder to cry on, a giggle, some inspiration or a job lead, they are there. This has helped me fully realize that even through your darkest hour, true friends will honor and respect your decisions without judgment. People that I rarely hear from frequently message me to see how I’m holding up.
Now, I’m taking stock of my life and figuring out what direction I want to head in next. Should I go back to school to get my Masters degree, find another position at a non-profit outside the LGBT community or switch my career path all together? Whichever I choose, I’m confident I will find something that I believe in and appreciate every day of my life the same way I once did about Pride. I will always remember my time there with great fondness having gained experience that is immeasurably valuable. My future endeavors will benefit from what I learned while working there like marketing, sponsorship, patience, honesty, integrity, and most importantly, pride.
So, after the protests, op-eds, articles and political intervention, the board finally resigned. I’ve been unemployed for over a month, endured a rollercoaster of emotions and, now, Pride has gotten the facelift it needed. There are many things I learned from this experience. But, the most important lesson is one of conviction. See, pride isn’t just about being proud of your sexual preference or identity, it’s about being proud of the decisions you make in your life. For better or worse, I am proud of mine.
Jeffrey, Ive followed you, stood next to you and been behind you throughout this entire “ordeal”. I am so very happy you are sharing your experience and giving us an insiders view. You should be proud of yourself, I know I am.
Rumor has it Mr. Redondo knew about the $5000 gift to Mr. Princetta in October when it was given to him. Why didn’t he resign then. Guess he was waiting for his year end bonus. Oh how nice it would be for all of us to have a direct in to the news media to post our “heartfelt” stories. Get a job Mr. Redondo. You are yesterday’s news.